Silence is golden, If so, then the loneliness that follows would never be as deafening. It's always the same, isn't it? Once you lose something you realise how much loved it...

Maeve felt exactly the same. Her apartment was in complete silence. It scared her. She was confident. She was fearless. She never shied away from a fight, no matter how big. But when it came to confronting her feelings, her emotions she was always confused or preferred leaving them undisclosed or ran away from them. 

She laid in her bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling and fingers playing with the edges of the duvet. She could hear the leaves on the trees rustling through the breeze. The clock's ticking also seemed like being played on a speaker. That's how silent the night felt for Maeve. She longed for just another day with her parents. Another day where her family was not broken or gone. She was ready to make a deal with the devil if only it meant that she could have those moments with her parents once again and not lose them.

The night had been an absolute bliss. Just as Rebekah left, Maeve used a spell she found in the grimoires and opened a portal. That portal helped Ezekiel and Amara in her apartment. The seven of them spent the night awake sharing laughter and stories.

Maeve walked out into the living room. Empty pizza boxes were stacked on the kitchen counter. Flute glasses for Champagne were set carefully next to the sink. The seven glasses and a bottle of wine made her burst into tears. The emptiness stung like it never did before. Ezekiel and Amara returned a bit after ghosts disappeared.

An entire day of family now seemed a lucid dream.

Upon entering the apartment in the early afternoon, Rebekah stomped her way into the room. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, and they landed on Maeve who was sitting next to the kitchen island, staring off into space. Rebekah took one look at Maeve's lackluster posture and knew immediately that something was wrong. She approached Maeve and wrapped her hands around her in a comforting embrace.

"You're missing them." said Rebekah softly. Maeve placed her hand on top of Rebekah's nodding her head.

"Look at it this way..." began Rebekah hoping to convince, "you got an entire day with your family. You got to see them, meet them, spend time with them. It was a privilege, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess so." she said half heartedly.

"It was."

"You felt bad, didn't you? When you saw me with them." Rebekah nodded, feeling like not lying to her.

"I did. I'll be honest. When I saw how lovingly they hugged you or how everything suddenly changed."

"I know you'll unite with your family soon." Maeve assured her. "Where did you stay for the night?"

"A hotel nearby." she told Maeve. "The receptionist was tasty." said Rebekah, trying to make Maeve smile. She smiled, herself when Maeve cracked one. It was not half hearted, it was genuine.

"I bet they were." Maeve wiped away her tears, "how was school?"

"Good. Made cheerleading team. Oh and Homecoming is coming up. Got dresses for myself and Elena should be here soon."

"Why the hell would you invite that bitch into my home?" accusingly asked Maeve.

"She wants to know about Mikael and our history here."

"So you invited her here. Alright then."

Soon three strange compelled women stepped around the room wearing the dresses Rebekah chose for herself. "You're runway show? Now this is interesting." laughed Maeve in a praiseful manner.

A knock sounded at the door. "Look, Beks! The newest doppelbitch is here." darkly chuckled Maeve following her words and got up. She opened the door. Elena stood on the other side of the door. Her face turned sour seeing Maeve.

"Don't look so sour Elena. This is my home." said Maeve, crossing her arms. "She's waiting for you inside." Maeve stepped aside. Elena walked in, her eyes training on Maeve.

"All right girls, have at it." The women twirled around before walking like a ramp.

"You invited me over? To talk?" Elena reminded her and the blonde smiled before turning around.

"Okay, now twirl please." They twirled and show their dresses.

"You compelled your own private runway show?" Elena asked confused.

"I need a Homecoming dress." Rebekah explained. "So, what do you think? Pick one." Rebekah told Elena.

"Why don't you ask your friend here. Besides, I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael." Elena replied flatly.

"I said 'pick one', Elena." She threatened and Elena swallowed nervously before looking at the different dresses.

"The red one." She blurted out.

"There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" She flashed a tight at Elena before turning to the girls. "Go away. Remember nothing." The girls left the room and Rebekah picked up her champagne glass before turning to face Elena. "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?" Rebekah foretold the agenda of the conversation.

"What do you want to know?" Rebekah asked.

"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?" Elena asked curiously.

"My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate." The blonde original began explaining.

"So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered."

"Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy... blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That led my family here, where we lived amongst those people." Rebekah continued.

"The werewolves." Maeve concluded.

"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me."

"You make it sound so normal."

"That's because it was. Once a month, our family, along with a few others, retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home." Rebekah told them as she looked out the window. "One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price..." She trailed off. Maeve moved to be next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Oh my God..." Elena's face flashed an expression of worry and sympathy.

"That was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors. And one of the last moments my family had together as humans." Rebekah whimpered. Suddenly, Elena's phone started ringing, getting their attention. 

"You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you." Rebekah said pointing. 

"Hello Damon " Elena answered, "Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now. Is that Stefan?" She asked shocked. Maeve smacked her head knowing Damon was living one of his stupidest days. "Damon! How could you let him out?" Elena exclaimed angrily through the phone. Rebekah looked over at Maeve quietly laughing. Maeve walked to the window to ignore Elena's conversation with Damon. 

Elena's voice snapped Maeve out of her zoned out stare. "Can we get on with the story?" She was annoyed.

"Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple." said the original dryly.

"Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is." Elena berated.

"I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species." Rebekah gave Elena a stern look, "We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives. "

"Is that why you did that runway show earlier? 'Cause you don't care about the Homecoming Dance..." Elena trailed off. 

"You know what, I'm just gonna go." Elena said, standing up. 

"You haven't even heard half the story." Rebekah reminded her.

"And you are not going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with... maybe you can compel yourself a friend."

"She doesn't need to. I am right here." Maeve gestured to herself. Rebekah smiled and mouthed a thank you.

"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give." Elena stopped in her tracks at Rebekah's voice and turned around, "It belonged to the Original Witch." She finished.

"The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?" Elena asked and Rebekah nodded, "not just that she's the one who made is Vampires."

"My parents implored the witch Ayana to help them protect us, but she said it was a crime against nature." She explained before looking around.

"The original witch begged Ayana for an answer. Ayana then it seems contacted someone with higher power." discreetly Rebekah turned to Maeve as of she silently asked for permission. It wasn't until a few seconds passed that Maeve realised why Rebekah glanced her way the way she did. Maeve nodded.

"This witch with higher power, was not one to oppose it. She simply didn't believe in the repercussions that would follow and cost that was to be paid. As possible as it was with the right aid of dark magic, she warned the original witch, the price was heavy for innocent hearts. It wasn't a thought that was considered."

"So, vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena asked folding her arms.

"What else would it be?" Rebekah told her.

"A curse." Elena spoke.

"Poor Elena so indisposed to the wonders a human mind possesses." Maeve mocked, "a human however controlled, accomplished, given the choice of eternal youth, strength and agility will feel drawn to vampirism. To be superior, at the top of the food chain, is more of a desire mankind has craved that lead to the world that is 21st Century." Maeve finished. She looked at Rebekah, who gave her an amused smile. Maeve rolled her eyes at her, "If you say I remind you of Elijah I swear, woman I will snap your neck." Maeve threatened. Rebekah raised her arms in defence.

"You two certainly share some qualities." commented Rebekah lightly. Maeve rolled her eyes.

"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive." Rebekah answered turning to face Elena.

"Yeah, but why stay if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not... leave?" Elena said hesitantly.

"Pride..." Rebekah said out loud. "My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses..." She explained, "But Ayana refused to help my parents, so did the other witch. Which is why that responsibility now fell in my mother's hands." 

"In her hands? How could she do anything?" Elena was genuinely confused.

"Because my mother was also a witch." She shrugged and Elena stopped walking.

"The witch of the Original Family, The Original Witch?"

"But if your mother was a witch, then..." Elena trailed off to which Rebekah shook her head.

"Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant, a vampire is an abomination of nature." She said making Maeve scoff.

"You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn." She explained.

"How did you turn?" Elena questioned.

"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts." Maeve cringed at her sentence, Rebekah noticed it and offered her a soft smile as if to say, she's over it, "he wasn't delicate either."

Rebekah shifted to the kitchen area, searching the cabinets for liquor. "We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. It was euphoric!" She exclaimed. "The feeling of power was indescribable...but the witch Ayana and the superior one were right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back...For every strength there would be a weakness. The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks. And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbours who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out." Rebekah turned to face Elena,

"Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away...so we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated."

Maeve looked at her confused, "the Bloodlust. We could not control it... And with that, the predatory species was born..."

"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena asked her.

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame." She told her. Maeve looked down unable to even think what Klaus might have gone through hearing the man he called a father behave the way he did.

"Yeah, Elijah told us this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son." Elena remembered.

"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him." Rebekah added. 

"But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her." She stated.

"Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked her in disbelief.

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched." She spoke but it was evident in her voice she was having flashes of those distant memories,

"Afterwards, my father took off in a rage and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother. After that, Elijah, Niklaus and I vowed to stick together, always and forever." She told them.

"Always and forever... even though he locked you in a coffin for ninety years?" Elena asked her.

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah is moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times." She shrugged. Maeve nodded. She would not be in her right mind if she said she agreed with the Hybrid's actions but she did realise the root cause of his actions.

"But you still love him?" Elena pressed on.

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" She retorted before sighing. "You've heard the story, it's time to go." 

Elena did not move which seemed to have angered Rebekah, "I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael." Elena replied.

"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid." She said angrily. 

"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life and over mine." Elena snapped back.

"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart." She threatened, "And I get my temper from my father. Now leave!" 

Elena stomped out angrily. Maeve and Rebekah continued laughing and chatting.

"The superior witch was a Serene, wasn't it?"

"Yes. She was. Better than the rest."

"You need to leave my liquor alone. You are on your way to empty the cabinet."

Half an hour passed, when Rebekah's expression changed when she heard someone enter,

"I thought I told you to leave. Twice." Rebekah said out loud as she poured herself another glass of champagne.

"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked, ignoring Rebekah's words.

"Nik was there. He told me." Rebekah stated 

"He lied to you." Elena blurted out.

"And how do you know that?"

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols." She explained and placed the pictures on the table. "The story of your family: how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this. This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother." She pointed at a picture and Rebekah looked at it carefully.

"Her necklace." Rebekah realized.

Maeve joined the dots about what must have happened.

"And this is the story of her death. They hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael. Klaus." She stated firmly.

"No!" Rebekah exclaimed. "No, he wouldn't."

"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him." She told the original vampire, " With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence...when he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you." Elena rambled. Maeve walked to stand directly in front of Elena. Maeve had a look of anger in her eyes.

"Elena I suggest shutting up now before you say something more and I have to push you out." Maeve growled lowly.

Elena rolled her eyes and averted them at Rebekah who was distraught.

"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" Rebekah yelled loudly. She then took the pictures and tore them to pieces before throwing them into the burning fireplace.

"Then why are you so upset?" Elena asked.

"Elena I am giving you one last warning!" Maeve warned through gritted teeth.

"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!" The original yelled, tears now covering her face.

"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it sto──" Elena's words were cut off as Maeve grabbed her by her neck and slammed her to the nearest wall. Elena struggled under the stronghold of Maeve.

Maeve's eyes turned red, her fangs elongating, the sharpness clear frightening Elena. "How dare you!" she growled tightening her hold.

"She...ne──eds to know the tru──th." stuttered out Elena, both her hands on Maeve's attempting to pry them away.

"And who are you? Who the fuck do you think you are to say anything?" Elena kept gasping struggling and thrashing her limbs.

"I swear to Selene you pathetic bitch had it not been for your use to Klaus, I would be tearing you apart for what you just did. You have absolutely no fucking right to say anything to Rebekah. This was none of your goddamn business." Maeve let go of Elena who immediately dropped to her knees nursing her aching neck. Maeve smiled malignantly at the sight of red marks on her neck.

"Get out of my house before I do worse." Elena scrambled on her feet barely able to hold herself upright. She stumbled out of Maeve's apartment. Anger that took control of Maeve simmered down leaving an empathetic heartbroken feeling for Rebekah.

Maeve didn't waste time to fall onto her knees besides Rebekah. The original clung to Maeve, her head resting on Maeve's shoulder. "It's okay Rebekah, let it all out. It's going to be okay."